The IR blog is a crossroads of the conservative community in Illinois. But there seem to be as many definitions of the word "conservative" as there are people who describe their own beliefs with that label. That is not surprising given that many conservatives are individualists. Conservatives are far from monolithic as is demonstrated on this blog every day. There is healthy diversity among conservatives and honest differences of opinion as to the merit of different candidates and positions.
So is there a common denomiator of basic principles for most conservatives? I think so, and that is the idea that indivudal freedom and responsibility are very high values. Economic conservatives stress the free market while social conservatives stress the importance of the Creator, church, and family in our society. But both groups agree on the whole and for the most part in the bedrock constitutional principles of America and the rule of law.
I have not recently seen a cohesive statement of general conservative principles even as many people discuss their principles by references to a particular issue of the moment. But I do recall one from almost a half century ago that still resonates with many today.
It was a very different era 46 years ago in September 1960. Eisenhower was in the last months of his second term in office and Nixon and Kennedy were in a close contest. The Cold War was the major defining feature in foreign policy and the range of differences on social issues were far more narrow than today. This was more than a dozen years before Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973) so the abortion debate was not even on the table as a national issue. It was then a matter of state jurisdiction. The social issues that were the focus then were civil rights, race relations, and poverty.
On Sept. 9, 1960 a group of college and graduate school conservatives gathered at the estate called Great Elm which was the home of William F. Buckley, Jr. in Sharon, Connecticut. They wanted a founding statement for their group, Young Americans for Freedom. Journalist M. Stanton Evans of The Indianapolis News and a committee wrote a draft. The group adopted "The Sharon Statement" two days later on Sept. 11 as their charter of principles. Two years later in 1962, the liberal and radical members of the Students for a Democratic Society replied with their statement at Port Huron, Michigan called "The Port Huron Statement."
Given the fact that it was written 46 years ago in a far different social and political epoch, the principles in the Sharon Statement seem to stand the test of time fairly well as a general guide for what conservatives agree on. See if you agree or disagree. For those among you who may not be familiar with The Sharon Statement, here is the text:
The Sharon Statement. Adopted Sept. 11, 1960 at Sharon, Connecticut.
| In this time of moral and political crises, it is the responsibility of the youth of America to affirm certain eternal truths. We, as young conservatives, believe: That foremost among the transcendent values is the individual's use of his God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force; That liberty is indivisible, and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom; That the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice; That when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish order and liberty; That the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering government to fulfill its proper role, while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power; That the genius of the Constitution- the division of powers- is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the several states, or to the people, in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government; That the market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the single economic system compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government, and that it is at the same time the most productive supplier of human needs; That when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the nation; that when it takes from one man to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both; That we will be free only so long as the national sovereignty of the United States is secure; that history shows periods of freedom are rare, and can exist only when free citizens concertedly defend their rights against all enemies; That the forces of international Communism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties; That the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistance with, this menace; and That American foreign policy must be judged by this criterion: does it serve the just interests of the United States? |
